I have argued before that once you spend over 8 on a bottle of wine, you will be rewarded by a huge jump in quality. Spend over 10 and even the most uncritical palate will notice another leap forward. However, over 80% of the wines we drink in this country cost less than 10. With this in mind, Wine Australia, the body charged with promoting the product in this country, held a tasting of some 30 Australian red wines under 10.

Given that the holiday season is almost here, this is a very smart idea. Summer holidays are not really the time for your finest wines.

Whether having a casual barbeque or just entertaining outdoors, you need something smooth and fruity that slips down without making you choke. Australia offers plenty in this category.

Leaving aside a couple of truly awful wines, there was a consistency across the board that any other country would find hard to match. In a blind tasting, most wines showed some varietal character and were easy, lightly fruity and at worst inoffensive.

There was a big jump in quality once a wine went over the 8 mark; all of the best sell at 9 or more. There were no big discoveries . . . most of the names were familiar and nothing stood out as truly exceptional. But these are budget wines after all.

So who were the stars? Given that they produce almost 80 million bottles a year, the quality and consistency the Jacob's Creek range is quite amazing. They were clear winners in two categories. Deserving of a mention too are the McGuigan wines . . . the Black Label Merlot and Black Label Shiraz were both runners-up in their category.

Brown Brother's Tarrango 2004

Description: Light, aromatic and fresh with raspberry and strawberry fruits.

Unusually for a red, it has good acidity too and should be served chilled.

Available from: most supermarkets and off-licences ( 9.99 to 10.99).

Drink with: salad or chicken gumbo. Served lightly chilled, this is one of the great summer drinks. Brown Brothers suggest goat's cheese pizza.

110.5/20

Jacob's Creek Shiraz 2005

Description: A very elegant, cooler style, avoiding the sweet oak and jamminess of others; piquant pure plum fruits, with a rounded easy finish.

Available from: most supermarkets and offlicences ( 9.99)

Drink with: a plate of barbequed spicy sausages and ribs.

112/20

Jacob's Creek Merlot 2005

Description: In my book, a good Merlot should be medium-bodied, softly fruity with plums and maybe cassis, and have no drying tannins on the finish. This fits the bill perfectly.

Available from: most supermarkets and off-licences ( 8.99).

Drink with: lighter red and white meat dishes or with pizza. This is also a great all purpose wine to drink by itself.

111/20

Oxford Landing Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2005

Description: More of a food wine than most of the others with a nice bit of Cabernet character . . .blackcurrants and cassis, with some drying tannins too.

Available from: most supermarkets and off-licences ( 8.99).

Drink with: lamb kebabs sprinkled with garlic and rosemary.

111.5/20